It takes skill to set up a season finale that provides some satisfaction and sense of closure and yet provides a hook for a second season. I think it’s easier to skip the sense of closure altogether. Why write a story with a beginning, middle and end, when you can get by with just a beginning and a middle?
Just got through season one.
My theory is Lumon has larger more nefarious motives. The Eagans are clearly a family that buys into the importance of their own legacy and has their eyes set on using their power to influence global politics.
By convincing someone to sever they now have control over the “innie” and use their work time performing psychological conditioning on them (thus all the work being emotion based tasks) and make them controllable servants. Then by using the “overtime” method release that servant under their control out into the real world when and wherever they please without anyone knowing.
Convince powerful/influential people to sever and you now have access to controlling a puppet of them out in society.
I finished S1 and really enjoyed it. Great cast, intriguing scenario, terrific Corporate Dread vibe. It seems to me, on some level, that it’s a parable about the erasure these days of the line between work life and private life, with the drones in a sterile, dehumanizing office environment menaced by unseen dangers just around the next well-lit corner.
Hmm, thanks! Poor Peg.
Good catch! I totally overlooked that. Another Milchick… hmm.
Wow, another good catch! I didn’t make that connection at all.
See:
And:
Definitely. The season-ending cliffhanger had me very wound-up.
As others have noted, we see lots of Lumon products in the kitchenette and supply closet.
Yes, absolutely. I don’t mind a few loose ends, but I hope the showrunners really do know how it’s all going to end, and are able to stick their landing.
Absolutely. I said to my family early on, “At the end, I want to see the FBI raid Lumon and drag away every Corporate goon who’s been tormenting the innies.”
But, what if it was the Government all along …?
My speculation over the deeper story has occasionally gone with Lumon being ultimately institutional rather than corporate evil.
Very much looking forward to Season 2 to tell us more.
Clearly, the baby goats are in charge of everything.
WE’RE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS HERE, PEOPLE.
Season 2 January 2025.
Damn, it’s certainly taken long enough! Now I know how to plan my rewatch of all of season one before the next season starts.
Almost exactly three years between seasons, that is ridiculous.
The strike was a huge factor in that.
Innies make great scabs.
:: golf clap ::
Oh man, I really liked the show, but I’ve forgotten 95% of it already. But the 9 episodes were so overlong that I just don’t want to relive them (in this reality). A simple recap isn’t going to be enough.
I need the Viewers Digest version.
20 million an episode‽
I saw that price tag yesterday and I had a tough time believing it. While the show has the great sets, it doesn’t seem to be reliant on VFX. What is the money spent on?
From the article
According to Forbes, Severance executive producer Ben Stiller planned to make a movie for Amazon between season one and two, and he asked House of Cards creator and Andor writer Beau Willimon to assist with the upcoming season and possibly even oversee season three. But “plans for the Amazon movie fell apart… Stiller decided to remain in charge of Severance (alongside [creator Dan] Erickson). Apple ended up paying Willimon millions to contribute to a few episodes.” The WGA and SAG strikes cost a pretty penny, too.
Still sounds like too much.
Arquette, Turturro, and Walken probably cost a lot more than the usual supporting actor in a TV show.
Well, it hasn’t exactly been a secret that Apple has been willing to overpay in order to land content at Apple+ for a variety of reasons (one example — they don’t have nearly a century’s worth of back catalog like Disney, Warner Bros., etc.). Those days might be over, though.
For a little context, the Bloomberg article that the Uproxx article is getting its info from says Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston are both making $2 million per episode for season 4 of The Morning Show, so that’s $4 million/per just for the 2 of them. Granted, those 2 are the top-tier Apple TV+ actor talent, but after Severance became a hit (a critical hit, anyway) and Apple asked for more seasons, its possible the Severance actors renegotiated their contracts with Apple leading to more lucrative paydays. I mean, renegotiation is a pretty common occurrence after a show proves itself successful, anyway.
We finally know when Season 2 of Apple’s hit TV show ‘Severance’ will premiere.
Didn’t we finally learn the premiere date finally all the way finally back in finally July finally?
Me too!